A couple of weeks ago I had the honor and privilege of assisting Lisa Cour of Dayspring Photography on a couple of her weddings.  Talk about fun! This gal has some seriously awesome clients.  She and I met at a workshop back in March and hit it off pretty well.  Our paths have crossed a couple of times since and I always enjoy seeing her.  I jumped at the chance to lend her a helping hand.  I will be blogging images soon!  In the meantime I thought it might be fun to take a tiny sneak peak of what a wedding day looks like from behind the scenes.  With the aide of my iPhone camera I set to work!

Tops on my priority list is my stomach!  Typically I begin work on a wedding day hours upon hours before the ceremony.  Photographers are  documenting every detail as the bride has her hair and makeup done.  We capture fabulous photos of her dress, her shoes, her jewelry.  We artistically gather images of her mother and father as they watch their baby girl become a woman.  Many times we also take similar photos of the groom.  Of course there isn’t much to his hair (or makeup – usually) but we do like to capture his story too.  Getting dressed, hanging with his buds, sweating it as someone teases him that “their is still time to change your mind you know!”

This means we often begin working 6 or 8 hours before dinner is served, well before lunch, and we work straight through often skipping pretty much every meal of the day.  Even dinner is forgotten as we prepare a slide show or capture cake details or… whatever!  So this means we eat on the go.  What does eating on the go look like?  For me?  A cliff bar in the car while driving like a maniac to keep up with the limo in front of me so that I can be right with the bride the entire day and not miss a moment. Sound yummy?  Oh, and of course chug a lugging water from that fancy cooler you see on the floor in the background.

Comfort and style on the day of a wedding are paramount.  I need to be comfortable so I can last on my feet in extreme circumstances sometimes into the wee hours of the morning.  However, I want to look as professional as possible.  No one wants to hire a photographer they’d be embarrassed to have as guest correct?  Some female photographers wear healed shoes.  I just can’t imagine.  Then again I haven’t worn a pair of real heals since my own wedding 10 years ago.  They just aren’t me.  So I go all out in high class with these fake crocs that I bought at Payless shoes for $1.49.  I know, so classy.  But they do match my branding!  Cute huh?

Before I became a wedding photographer I thought the job was rather glamorous.  After all, wedding photographers work in swanky hotels, resorts, and other locations… right?  I mean, to get beautiful photos you have to go to beautiful places!  Yeah, not so much.  On this particular day I risked life and limb on a set of railroad tracks.

I enjoyed the pleasant aroma of a garbage dumpster.

And I graced the grounds of an old mental hospital… a place that is noted for being one of the most haunted in the country.

Oh, and did I mention that all of this took place on a day the will go down in the record books because of the extensive heat?  100+ degrees and higher with the heat index.  Yes, you could ring my shirt out before the day was done!  How did I get through it you ask?  Well, I stopped off on my way home and bought myself one very big iced coffee.  ahhhh…..

You know what? I wouldn’t trade one moment of it for the world!  I love what I do.  I love being there documenting the story of a very special day.  I love getting to know my clients.  I love the hugs they give me as we part after many many hours together.  I get to see people at their best (and once in great while at their worst).  I get to tell a story.  A story about love.  What could be better than that?

Oh and one more thing.  I get to see really really cool things like this killer limo! Now isn’t it totally worth it?

Happy Tuesday!